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Thursday, April 16, 2009

My advance of copy of "Dead and Gone," the ninth Sookie Stackhouse novel by Arkansas author Charlaine Harris, just arrived in the mail. The hardcover edition from Ace Books is due to hit stores in May.

Funny: When I interviewed Harris by phone a little while back, she announced that she was cutting back; her daughter was about to be a high school senior, after all, and Mom wanted to be there for her.

Well, you can't tell it from Penguin (Ace's parent company) or from HBO, home of the cable series "TrueBlood," based on the Stackhouse books. The first season of the series (produced by "Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball) garnered steamy reviews and a shelf of nifty awards including a Golden Globe for actress Anna Paquin, who plays Sookie. Now the second season is scheduled to premiere on June 14.

Penguin is set to cash in on the hoopla. The paperback edition of Harris' previous Sookie novel, "From Dead to Worse," came out this month. The next few months will see a reissuing of the entire Harris vampire series in trade paperback, with new cover art, climaxing with a new, eight-novel boxed edition in October.

There are so many talented artists here in the state I wanted to try to showcase a few via this blog. I’ll try to highlight at least two a month so we’ll see how it goes. Keep me posted if you have any suggestions of artists you’d like to see interviewed. Our first visit takes us to Magnolia, home to New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. Harris created The Southern Vampire Mysteries series, which revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid living in Louisiana who can read people's minds. The series is set in a world where vampires can live out in the open, thanks to the development of synthetic blood. Alan Ball, of Six Feet Under fame, created an HBO series based on the novels called True Blood starring Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer. The second season premiers this summer. Along with the vampire series, Harris is the author of the Aurora Teagarden series, the Lily Bard Shakespeare series (set in rural Arkansas), and the Harper Connelly series. Here are a few quick questions with the Arkansas writer.

How would you describe Magnolia to someone who has never been there before?

CH: Magnolia is a very friendly town with a good four-year college and a new hospital. The people are extremely polite and helpful. It’s a great place to raise children.

W hat are some of your favorite spots to visit in Arkansas?

CH: I like Little Rock because it has shopping plus a pleasant, rolling terrain. Hot Springs looks different from the rest of the state, and has a colorful history. I grew up in the Delta, over on the Mississippi side, and I have a deep attachment to perfectly flat and fertile!

How would you describe your writing style? In your opinion, what do you think is one of the biggest misconceptions about writers?

CH: My writing style. Do I have one? I guess I do. Hmmm. I write very southern, very colloquially, and lately I’ve been writing humorously. The biggest misconceptions about writers? I’ve been one for so long that I can’t remember how it felt when I was on the outside. I think when I was a teenager I believed that all writers drank a lot and were extremely rude. Thankfully, I know now that that’s not true at all.

You broke genre boundaries with your current Sookie Stackhouse series. W hat initiated the idea to write about the realm of Southern vampires?

CH: I was looking for a way to shake up my career. I was stuck in the midlist, writing conventional mysteries. I love my mystery roots, but I felt like having a little fun.

Hi Dallas,I am so excited that the True Blood soundtrack has a release date! After reading the track list, I was disappointed that there are no instrumental tracks. I was hoping some of Nathan Barr's scores would be included. I already downloaded "Take Me Home" but I want more!

Has there been any talk of releasing any of the instrumentals like "Hair Clip"?

EA also did a "Go ask Nathan' and received this answer from NB

Subject: Re: Soundtrack

Thanks for the kind words E - my score is being released on it's own CD in August and will include all the below music you asked about - if you'd like I can email you when it is available.

Cheers, Nathan

Well EA, you are right there is no Nathan Barr cuts on the CD but you can already buy 'Take me home'and you can listen to the others for free on Nathan's Myspace.http://www.myspace.com/nathanbarrmusic

'Bill's Entrance' , 'Bill and Sookie Come Together' and 'Bill and Sookie's Love theme' ( what you call the 'Hair Clip' song.Yes as you know you can purchase the Mp3 of 'Take me home' (with Lisbeth Scott ) otherwise known as the Crying Pie Song Here

** EA also asked NB about 'Sancto Eric' and I'm assuming it will also be included in the August CD !

I'm using @SookieBonTemps tweets as a narrative for my Paley event photos, videos etc.I will also add my own comments but Sook did the tweeting and I did video and photographs (because I ended up on the second row) It was so great getting to know @SookieBonTemps in person as we have been online friends since with both started doing our True Blood/ Sookie fan stuff.We both choose to stay incognito and we are the most unlikely of all teams but I think we did a good job of covering the event together.

Butterflies. The True Blood soundtrack isn't helping(Did you even wonder what it would sound like if 800 people sang this song all together as loud as they could ?- well, I know and it sounds pretty fantastic!)

Startin!

Showin' vampire TV show clips. Dark Shadows!

(I think the Paley always plays old television clips before their panel discussions and of course Dark Shadows was the right oneto play before True Blood. The Paley Center's permanent media collection contains more than 140,000 television and radio programs and advertisements, available both in New York and Los Angeles. Find out more here ))

Get a Taste of "True Blood"(SM) With Soundtrack to the Hit HBO(R) Series, in Stores and Online May 19th"TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES" Features Jace Everett's "Bad Things" Main Title Theme Alongside Tracks From Bayou State Legends Dr. John, Lucinda Williams, Slim Harpo, CC Adcock

Last update: 4:47 p.m. EDT April 15, 2009NEW YORK, NY, Apr 15, 2009 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Elektra/Atlantic Records has announced the upcoming release of "TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES," due in stores and online on May 19th. The album features tracks from the acclaimed HBO drama's first season, including the sultry theme song, "Bad Things" performed by Jace Everett. The hugely anticipated second season of "True Blood" is slated to premiere on HBO on June 14th, while "True Blood: The Complete First Season" will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19th."TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES" features songs performed by a wide-range of Louisiana natives, reflecting the series' steamy backwoods setting. The artists span the Bayou State's distinctive musical heritage, from Lucinda Williams, Slim Harpo, and Lee Dorsey to Allen Toussaint and the legendary Dr. John (see attached tracklisting). The soundtrack also includes "Bleed 2 Feed," an exclusive new song written expressly for the series by Lafayette-based swamp rocker CC Adcock.Also among the highlights are tracks from such diverse talent as Ryan Adams, Cobra Verde, The Watson Twins, Little Big Town, and Th' Legendary Shack Shakers. In addition, "TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES" includes "The Golden State," performed by the one-and-only John Doe, which will be featured in the series' upcoming second season."TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES" will be available for pre-order beginning April 21st at the Atlantic Records webstore, located at http://store.atlanticrecords.com, as well as the HBO Shop(R) ( www.hbo.com/store/trueblood), and other DSPs.Mixing romance, suspense, mystery, and humor, "True Blood" takes place in the not-too-distant future, when vampires have come out of the coffin, thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood that means they no longer need humans to get their fix. Set in a backwoods Louisiana town, the show follows the romance between waitress Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin, winner of a Golden Globe(R) for her portrayal), who can read minds, and 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer).Critics across the country have proclaimed "True Blood" one of the best new shows on television. USA Today called it "wildly imaginative," with "one of the best ensembles of the new series," while the Washington Post found it "audacious, outrageous and playfully grisly." TV Guide hailed the show as "graphically sexy and scary, and often wildly funny," and "a broadly entertaining, deliciously twisted slice of modern Southern Gothic.""True Blood" is created and executive produced by Alan Ball (creator of HBO's Emmy Award(R)-winning "Six Feet Under"(R)); based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris; co-executive producer Brian Buckner; supervising producer Nancy Oliver; producers Carol Dunn Trussell and Alexander Woo; co-producer Raelle Tucker.Gary Calamar serves as music supervisor and soundtrack producer for "TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES."For additional information, please visit www.hbo.com/trueblood.(COMPLETE TRACKLISTING BELOW) "TRUE BLOOD - MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES" (ELEKTRA/ATLANTIC) In Stores and Online May 19th1. Jace Everett - "Bad Things"2. CC Adcock - "Bleed 2 Feed"3. Lucinda Williams - "Lake Charles"4. Lee Dorsey - "Give It Up"5. Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers - "Swampblood"6. Cobra Verde - "Play With Fire"7. The Watson Twins - "Just Like Heaven"8. The Flying Burrito Brothers - "Christine's Tune (A.K.A. Devil In Disguise)"9. Ryan Adams - "Two"10. Slim Harpo - "Strange Love"11. Allen Toussaint - "From A Whisper To A Wind"12. Dr. John - "I Don't Wanna Know"13. John Doe Featuring Kathleen Edwards - "The Golden State"14. Little Big Town - "Bones"

Copyright 2009 Home Box Office, Inc. All Rights Reserved. HBO and related service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

Season two of True Blood premieres June 14 on HBO, and creator Alan Balljust told fans at Paley Fest that the new episodes have scenes (many not from the books) that will make "your jaw drop."

But June is a ways away, and we all want new bitey hijinks right now! So right here, right now, E! Online is exclusively premiering your first look at the teaser posters for the new episodes. At first they seem to depict a puddle of blood, but look again and you'll see that they're really an optical illusion hiding something sexier...

You superfans can download the high-res version in three delicious flavors:

"Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps—and nothing about weres. Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works - and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it. But there’s a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle." - penguingroup.com.Less expensive alternative:Dead Until Dark,the first volume in the series.

What a wonderful article on Anna from the Jewish Journal, I am surprised that they even got Anna to talk about how she found the emotions to play Irena by looking deeply into her own real feelings of helplessness to help her sister deal with brain cancer treatments and surgery. What an amazing young woman she is...

Anna Paquin was 11 when she won an Oscar for her performance in “The Piano” and in her mid-20s when she took the 2009 Golden Globe for her leading role in HBO’s vampire series, “True Blood,” but as she locked up her bicycle on a funky stretch of Abbot Kinney Boulevard the other day, she looked like just another young woman from the neighborhood. “Thanks for schlepping down to Venice,” she said as a greeting.

In person, the 26-year-old Paquin is as cheery and down-to-earth — and at the same time as direct and determined — as her “True Blood” character, a telepathic waitress with a penchant for short shorts and the 173-year-old vampire Bill played by Stephen Moyer, who is also Paquin’s real-life boyfriend. On this day, the New Zealand native wore bicycle shorts, her blonde hair was in a ponytail and her face had no sign of makeup. She was both accessible and upbeat, despite the fact that she had gotten off work from the second season of “True Blood” at 4 a.m., slept a few hours, then had to bike to the interview, since she does not know how to drive.

“No worries,” she said of her schedule. “The rest of the world doesn’t run on vampire hours just because I do.”

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer attend the launch of Loomstate For Target collection at the Big Red Sun on Tuesday (April 14) in VeniceCalif.

Loomstate for Target is an edgy eco-friendly fashion line for men and women. All of the cotton used in the collection is 100 percent certified organic. The collection will be available starting Sunday, April 19.

The second season of HBO's award-winning vampire saga will make its debut on June 14. Until then, you'll have to content yourself with a soundtrack CD from the series, set for release May 19.

"True Blood: Music From the Original HBO Series" ($18.98, Atlantic/WEA) features a song from John Doe and Kathleen Edwards, "The Golden State," that will be included on the show's next season.It's one of 14 tracks on the disc: